Baseball Talk Philadelphia

March 29, 2014

Philliedelphia's 2014 Predictions: AL and NL Eastern Divisions

Yesterday we brought you our writers' predictions for the American League and National League Central division teams. The day prior, we brought you the Western division teams. Today we will share with you our predictions with the Eastern divisions from both leagues.

Andrew Shipotofsky:

AL East:

Rays (93-69)

Red Sox (90-72)

Orioles (87-75)

Blue Jays (85-77)

Yankees (83-79)

Last season, the Red Sox won the World Series, but I believe the AL East will not make it easy for them to make another run. The Rays with very strong young pitching, plus the emergence of Wil Meyers, should win the East. The Red Sox will give them some trouble, but I think will ultimately they take the wild card. Orioles, Blue Jays, and Yankees will fight it out for the final three spots. I do feel the Yankees another year older will struggle at times.

NL East:

Braves (91-71)

Phillies (88-74)

Nationals (87-75)

Mets (83-79)

Marlins (80-82)

The NL East is tricky. Even with the Braves having some injuries to top pitching, I believe they win the East. I think BJ Upton improves a little from last year, and their offense will carry them at times behind a shut down bullpen. This is where it gets tricky. I believe if the Phillies play up to potential they steal a wild card spot from the Nationals. The Nationals have strong rotation, but I don’t trust their offense. The Mets and Marlins will improve from last years as they groom strong young talent.

Erik Seybold:

AL East:

Red Sox (97-65)

Blue Jays (87-75)

Yankees (83-79)

Orioles (80-82)

Rays (78-84)

I think that the Red Sox will once again rule the AL East this season. The reigning World Series Champions held their own last season and they'll do it again as they sore over their competitors. Despite the loss of Jacoby Ellisbury, other areas of the field will pick up the slack. The Blue Jays will finish in second and secure a Wild Card spot as the Yankees threaten, but cannot make any thing work. The Orioles will not be a contending team this season and the Rays will fall back to the bottom of the barrel.

NL East:

Braves (92-70)

Nationals (88-74)

Phillies (85-77)

Mets (75-87)

Marlins (70-92)

I believe that the Braves will take this division title, but it won't be taken easily. I could be wrong about the Braves, Nationals and Phillies. That's what makes this division one of the most interesting in baseball. The Phillies have made improvements, but have also had a lot of set backs with injuries. Cliff Lee will lead this team to the end of the year, but it is in the air come September. It will be very exciting to see what happens. As for the Mets, they will be under .500 and the Marlins will come in last place.

Kevin Durso:

AL East:

Red Sox (97-65)

Orioles (94-68)

Yankees (91-71)

Rays (88-74)

Blue Jays (79-83)

NL East:

Nationals (90-72)

Braves (86-76)

Mets (83-79)

Marlins (78-84)

Phillies (75-87)

The defending World Champions are in the best position of any AL East team. They will face challenges from the Yankees, Orioles and Rays, but ultimately have the pieces to make another run. The Nationals are simply the NL East team in the best position. The NL East will not be pretty this season, and I wouldn't pick any East team to go to the NLCS, but given the Braves injuries and the rest of the division's makeup, this is an easy choice.

Andrew Gillen:

AL East:

Red Sox (95-67)

Rays (92-70)

Yankees (87-75)

Orioles (86-76)

Blue Jays (65-97)

The defending World Champion Red Sox continue with their momentum and stay strong all season. However, the Rays are not only going to secure a Wild Card spot, but they stand as my current World Series pick. The Yankees gigantic offseason does not work as well as the Dodgers' did. Baltimore will compete, but lacks some key components to steal the show. Toronto just never gets going and continues to drag down the division.

NL East:

Nationals (90-72)

Braves (85-77)

Mets (79-83)

Phillies (71-91)

Marlins (68-94)

Washington will be the top of the division, much improved over last season. Atlanta, while still not as dominant as Washington, has a respectable season, but doesn't make a playoff run. New York surprises many, with their plethora of offseason moves actually working and putting them into third place. Fourth is where the Phillies will end up, barely reaching 70 wins. Miami once again brings up the bottom of the East.

Brandon Apter:

AL East:

Orioles (94-68)

Red Sox (93-69)

Rays (90-72)

Yankees (88-74)

Blue Jays (82-80)

With the addition of Nelson Cruz to the lineup, I believe the Orioles have what it takes to take the tough AL East. Chris Davis had a monster year last season and the team brought in some pitching help with Ubaldo Jimenez. Their bullpen has some question marks, which is why I believe them and the Red Sox will be very close as Boston has a better back end of the pen. The Orioles pitching rotation isn’t phenomenal, but they can be effective and always seem to keep the team in the game. The Rays have potential, but I don’t think it is as good as the O’s and Red Sox lineup. The Yankees got Jacoby Ellsbury and Brian McCann this offseason, but their rotation lacks any real firepower, especially since their ace, CC Sabathia, posted a 4.78 ERA last season. I think the Blue Jays will be better, but they still have a ways to go to compete in this division.

NL East:

Nationals (96-66)

Braves (91-71)

Marlins (84-78)

Phillies (81-81)

Mets (76-90)

The Nationals have the most talent in this division in many aspects. They have offensive pop with Bryce Harper, Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman. They have a very good top of the rotation with Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez and Jordan Zimmerman and should be fine even with Doug Fister expected to start the season on the DL. Their bullpen is young, but good and Rafael Soriano is a dangerous closer to have to face. I put them ahead of Atlanta, because though the Braves have plenty of bats, they lost two starting pitchers to Tommy John surgery, and I believe that Washington will outlast them in the end. I think the Marlins will take a step forward this year. They have a young core of pitchers and hitters and can definitely beat the Mets and Phillies out of the division. The Phils offense in the spring hasn’t given anyone a reason to believe they will be good, but I think if they stay healthy, they will play .500 baseball. Having Lee, Burnett and Hamels in your rotation is always a plus as well. As for the Mets, nothing really stands out for them. David Wright is always a threat, Granderson has potential but hits plenty of offensive slumps. Their pitching is mediocre at best, with Jonathan Niese and Bartolo Colon heading the starters there.

Stay tuned for more predictions this weekend. Tomorrow we will cover the NL and AL Wild Cards and the Yearly Award Predictions.

Comments

Regardless of the fact that I totally disagree with his AL East predictions, for the NL East the only person I agree with is Brandon Apter. No way the Braves are winning the division with their pitching staff. Also, for some reason everyone thinks that the sleeper in the division is the Mets when really it's the Marlins. The Marlins have young talent that is slowly learning to play as a team whereas the Mets don't have a lot of talent and they're aging like the Phils.